Everdream Valley

Game Title: Everdream Valley
Released: May 30, 2023
Game Length: 25 Hours
Grade: B-

Development

Game Design: Everdream Valley isn't exactly a well-known cozy game. Some may only know about it from the recent Humble Bundle. The people behind the game certainly developed something different and unique compared to the usual bunch of cozy games. At its heart, the player interacts with the world like a giant sandbox. You can manipulate where trees go, what type of grass grows, and move objects around. There are some mechanical limits to the extent you can modify the world such in the case how grass does not grow back. The map is static and does not conform to any changes you make. Your shovel cannot be used to change the level of the ground or its shape. A big portion of the game revolves around giving the player more agency as they progress through the main story. So, just because you can find various animals roaming in the wild does not necessarily mean you can tame them until you are asked to through means of a quest.

Updates: For nearly a year, the developer has been adding patches to the game. Almost every single one since then has drastically improved the game for the better. They have increased the speed of the mini-games, provided ways to instantly receive one product instead of working for two, and offered three of an item if you don't make a mistake. Further updates added a magic flute to call forth animals with limitless affection and a saddle to enable riding on a horse. The game went on Nintendo Switch June 23, 2023. They also tacked on a few cosmetic bundles with picnic tables, a confetti cannon, and pumpkin heads free of charge. As you can see from their roadmap at the time, they added fast travel through owl markers, more ways to display cosmetics, and finally their multiplayer the beginning of this year.

Dreams

Quests: The game has a very noticeable play cycle when it comes to the main story. You find an animal, take care of its problem, bring it back to the farm, speak with it while you are asleep, and visit the next one. The game is very linear in the sense that you cannot advance without completing the current quest. There could be an alpaca who feels lonely, some pigs afraid of some geese, or other obstacles in the way. For an animal to follow you, all you need to do is pet it every once in awhile. Use a whistle if you wish animals to continuously follow you. Don't try to lure animals in before a quest requires action. You will need to "hook" them to a very specific type of sign to keep them in place. Bringing them within a certain area doesn't automatically keep them there. 

Mini-games: If you fall asleep and a quest dream isn't available, you'll have a chance to perform a small activity with an animal. Occasionally, a scarecrow will allow you to spin the wheel to decide which one you will do for the night. He will also allow you to redo the spin once if it lands on one you don't quite like. Complete the game and you'll have your chance of choosing your dream for the night. These games will generally take place inside the farm space you built up or a predestined area. A few options might have consequences that will have to be taken care of the following day like how the wolves can break your fences and steal your sheep. Rewards are given out appropriately, like how helping a chicken fly will give you some eggs. Choose to skip the mini-game and you'll come back empty-handed, or empty-clawed if you were a bird.

Sleeping: There doesn't seem to be any penalty for continuously playing through the night. There are many mechanics that actually encourage it. Obtaining fireflies is one of the earliest quests given to you. There will be wolves out and about that will charge at you. As there is no way a wooden sword can scare them off, encountering one will automatically advance you to the next day as a "bad dream" you had. Campfires can keep them away just as long as you have a match handy in your inventory. You can sleep at the house, in your tree house, or in a mobile tent you can carry in your pocket. There is an option to turn on "polite wolves" if you want something easier.

Mechanics

Inventory: What might be unorthodox at first can actually prove to be a ruthless way of making sure you always keep empty spots available in your inventory. Hundreds of things can pour into your slots between your cat chasing after bugs and mice, walking over ingredients when you have a basket tucked away, and the number of miscellaneous items you move around the farm. When your inventory is full, all additional items will be thrown into your chest. You can buy additional inventory slots (a row at a time) from the merchant and most importantly send anything to your chest from anywhere. By the way, your storage will automatically increase its maximum. This means that if you have 101 items, your maximum will increase to 150. The one catch here is that you cannot retrieve things from your chest until you buy and permanently place down another medium chest that links to your items. The game has a lot of small storage chests you can put down and pick up that don't link to your main one. This can be troublesome when grandpa hands you some nails to repair the bridge next to him and you realize that they were sent all the way back to your farm. Perhaps the most devastating glitch is digging up that mysterious stone on the final quest only for it to break when your item gets sent elsewhere. Hopefully one day they will fix that.

Tools: Cozy games generally provide you a small number of tools such as an axe to chop trees, pickaxe to mine stone, and a watering can for your crops. This game has an inordinate number of tools that you need handy to perform specific activities. A hammer will allow you to craft and fix things in the world. A shovel will allow you to dig up things like trees or find buried treasure under marked stones. Sometimes you can use multiple items such as filling up a watering can or empty bottle with water. Stations are just as important with a saw that creates boards, a device that converts bugs into treats, a place to cook your meals, and a crafting workshop. The entire games revolves around learning how to use these tools as they introduce more as time goes by. Every few days, animals will provide you goods by milk from cows, eggs from chickens, truffles from pigs, and wool from sheep.

Vegetation: There are different types of plants you can interact with. The primary method of the game is to use a hoe to dig up the ground to place down crops. These can include flowers and crops. You cannot undo churned ground with your hoe. Instead, the game provides you with seeds that override the ground with grass or fields of flowers. These items, including compost, consume as long as you are holding the button. They do not check to see if they are being used. Crops aren't pulled out but instead duplicate their produce when they are ready for the harvest. They will need water, a scarecrow for protection against the birds, weeds pulled, and compost for accelerated growth. Various sources of water will help such as a well, pond, or sprinkler system. Even during a drought, water can still be retrieved but at a slower rate. Fruit trees and bushes can provide an almost endless supply of consumable ingredients. They can be identified with white on their bark and take some time to grow when moved by a spade.

Systems

Trade: Just outside your farm is a curious fellow who will buy your goods. He will then have those items in stock for double that amount... as if you are his only customer. The problem comes from his ludicrously expensive stock that slowly becomes available as you progress through the game. While doing quests for him might lower the cost a little, you'll need to find out what sells well. Butterflies might be good for early game as many can be found right outside your farm, creating elaborate meals with produce such as eggs and milk might be just the right amount to get what you need. The problem is cooking recipes are hidden from the player. Other than about a dozen you initially get from grandma and the occasional one you find buried under a marked stone, you'll need to figure out what very specific recipes are available. Thankfully, enough time has passed for a list to be uploaded on the wiki. Talk to grandpa each day to receive another half of what you accumulated the day before.

Cosmetics: The game might have too many choices when it comes to showing off, but there are certainly a wide-range of clothes that can be crafted with wool once you complete a quest or find some buried treasure. Animals come in different colors and styles as well. There will be a chance to build a tree house you can climb up into and add a few accessories such as a bean bag or a window. Terrariums will become available to store your beetles, fish, and frogs. Larger ones can be put out on display around your farm. There's about less than a dozen types of fences you can learn how to craft by spotting them in the wild and asking your grandpa for the recipe.

Stamina: Like many things in the tutorials, this mechanic isn't explained too well. Performing activities such as running or chopping trees will consume stamina. Your amount will replenish when not doing anything. If you touch a bee, your maximum will go down. Use smoke to stun them or a net to capture them. If you touch a goose, a wound will halt regeneration for a short time. Use a wooden sword to stun them or a band-aid to remove the wound. Eating a single type of fruit will replenish your entire bar. Consuming fruit can increase the maximum up to three bars. Meals can increase up to four bars.  

Quirks: The game somehow still has a lot of glitches and bugs after all this time. While I mentioned how items being thrown into storage can break quests, there are numerous other hiccups that had to be worked around. Taking a picture with your camera and then shifting to your map will somehow cut your speed in half. Calling forth your camera again can temporarily fix it but only rebooting the game will remove the problem. None of your activities will check to see what supplies you have in storage. Cooking and crafting will require you to pull out the necessary ingredients and materials. Since support for the gamepad isn't fully supported, there will be times where the game doesn't quite recognize where your cursor wants to go inside the UI. Moving things between chests can get confusing to the point where the game won't deposit a single object, combine objects, or ignore an empty slot as if there is something occupying it. The game does not pause when you access features. There are a number of invisible barriers when it comes to streams of water and rocky terrain. You will be placed back on land if you somehow find a way to jump into water. You can only place up to ten colored pins on the map. Almost everything is recorded in your logs from when you completed quests, how many steps you took, and what you found throughout the day. Grandpa's jokes are questionable.

Summary

Review: Everdream Valley is a beautiful, short game that allows you to plant crops, interact with animals, and color the landscape in ways you might not ever seen in other games. While your options might appear limited at first, the game slowly reveals more features as you explore the area and learn more about the mysterious dreams you have when you sleep. Because of how diverse the content can be, there can be some growing pains when learning how everything works. The tutorials don't explain everything in detail and the number of problems that come with the quality of life features can be frustrating to deal with. Although there are a number of quests that lead you to each new functionality, the trickle of options and linear path they set you on can strain a more adventurous spirit. The game was enjoyable despite its downfalls.